It's that time of year again; summer fleetingly passed by and the buses are en route carrying kids back to the halls of learning once again. Lunch boxes are being packed with sandwiches and Hostess Twinkies® and backpacks are being loaded with the many tools of education. It's back to early bedtimes and homework.
Bright Yellow Pencils
I love the part in the movie "You've Got Mail" when Tom Hanks aka Joe Fox pens an email about how he loves New York in the fall and how it makes him want to go out and buy school supplies.
Back to school memories to me include thoughts of bright new yellow # 2 pencils, notebook paper, wire bound composition notebooks, and a new box of sharp unbroken Crayola® crayons. He goes on to say that he's love to send his "pen pal" a newly sharpened pencil bouquet if he knew her name and address.
Shorter Summer Breaks
I know buying school supplies always made me eager to get back in class and go to work on my studies. Not to infer that I did not enjoy the summer break, and they were long summer breaks back in my day. School ended promptly in May and did not start back until after Labor Day. Now the kids where I live barely have any summer at all; actually many of them start back the first week of August.
Large Family – Tight Budget
I grew up in a family with five kids, so the budget was tight when it came to back to school clothes and supplies. My mother made a lot of our clothes. She went to work in the summer at her Singer® sewing machine to make at least one new outfit for each of us for the upcoming school year. We all also got a pair of new shoes.
Every year I would pick out the same exact shoe style. My parents would ask me, "Do not you want to try something different?" I figured if it was not broken, no need to fix it. My selection was always the navy blue Keds® that came with bright orange shoestrings, and they manufactured that same identical shoe style for many years. I guess they did not think they were "broken" either.
I think my favorite back to school supplies consist of a new lunch box, new shoes, fresh crayons, # 2 pencils, and a bright colored new ruler.
I remember my older sisters always had those light blue denim-looking style 3-ring notebooks, the kind with heavy duty rings and canvas covered exteriors. Those notebooks started out brand new and completely blank, and through the term they were pen scribbled with doodles and hearts surrounding boysfriends' names and plus signs that contained their initials along with whoever was the lucky beau at the time.
Live the Dream – Go Buy Some School Supplies
My daughter is in college now, so I miss the days when she'd get all excited about our annual school supply purchasing excursion to find a new backpack and all the wonderful things it was to hold. She'd spend time after the shopping trip organizing and labeling in anticipation of the first day of school.
I live right near a school, and the empty parking lot is once again full and I enjoy seeing the bright yellow / orange colored buses pass by; it brings back many fond memories of my youth, and my daughter's as well. Oh, what wonderful days those were! Tom Hanks has me wanting to go out this afternoon and buy some school supplies; heck, maybe I'll get some new Keds®, too!